20 February 2023, Mumbai

Birla Cellulose will introduce the weaver community to fibers like viscose, modal, and excel, which are relatively price stable. The aim is to create awareness about natural, sustainable and durable alternatives and preserve a precious art like handloom weaving. Till date Birla Cellulose has trained 1500 artists, across seven states and supplied 5.5 lakhs of yarn annually. Given that the cost of silk yarn is often exorbitant and out of reach for the mass market, Birla Cellulose has blended silk fabrics which preserve the luxurious feel of pure silk while being competitively priced. Modal-made products have a lustrous shine, brilliant color, and luxuriously soft feel reminiscent of silk. Birla Cellulose’s brand, Liva, nurtures the Indian textile value chain contributing to a more sustainably produced fiber that also resolves the breakage issue these weavers face with traditional threads. Further, with its robust supply chain supported by regional partners, Birla Cellulose ensures timely and consistent delivery of quality yarn that meets all of their customers’ needs, helping boost weavers’ production capacity. With its versatile R&D center continuously engaged in developing new yarns and fabrics with regional partners, Birla Cellulose has helped commercial bulk fabric manufacturers develop new bases for printing with the latest, in-demand yarns or by changing the weaving patterns.

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29 January 2023, Mumbai

Around 25 per cent to 30 per cent of all products sold in India are spurious. So says Crisil.

Among all the sectors, the apparel sector tops the list with 31 per cent of counterfeit products followed by fast-moving consumer goods with 28 per cent and the automotive sector with 25 per cent. Other major sectors included pharmaceuticals (20 per cent), consumer durables (17 per cent), and agrochemicals (16 per cent).

Around 27 per cent of India consumers, says Crisil, are unaware that the products are counterfeit at the time of purchase, but 31 per cent willingly purchase spurious products. The report covered New Delhi, Agra, Jalandhar, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Indore, Kolkata, Patna, Chennai, Bangalore, and Hyderabad. And counterfeiting is not limited to luxury items. Even common items, from cumin seeds to cooking oil and from baby care items to medicines, are increasingly reported as counterfeit.

The spurious goods market is rising and is heavily bleeding the industry and consumers. There is a huge market in India for fake copies of luxury brands selling everything from clothes, shoes, watches, accessories, phones, and other electronics. Fake labels or cheap imitations may seem a tempting deal but wearing such a garment can be dangerous to health.

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 03 January 2023, Mumbai

The retail industry in India is entering 2023 with cautious optimism. Larger players are strengthening their footprints, leveraging technologies to improve efficiency and expand beyond metros.

After learning the lessons from the pandemic-induced disruptions, retail players will continue with their multi-channel approach and marketplaces such as B2B (Business to Business) commerce and D2C (Direct to Consumer), and also focus on diversifying their supply sources. Two of the large modern trade chains are adopting a path of B2B commerce and kirana integration, with an ambition to create a data-unified retail environment. D2C data, delivery information, and telecom data integration are likely to drive the eventual convergence of offline and online channels towards a connected commerce model of tomorrow.

The industry is likely to continue witnessing consolidation as the scale gets driven through technology-led integration and efficiencies. Retail in the country is expected to grow better than all other key markets across the world.The occasionwear market (festivals, weddings etc.) will thrive in the country if no Covid restrictions are introduced. Many smaller and less profitable retailers may exit the business in favour of more efficient and larger players who are able to leverage technology to drive efficiency across their retail operations.

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17 February 2023, Mumbai

Ananya and Aryaman are on the board of Aditya Birla.

They are the children of Kumar Mangalam Birla and it is a sign the reins of the storied group which traces its antecedents back to 1857 will stay in the hands of a Birla scion.

In 1977 Aditya Vikram Birla became the company’s chairman and in 1995 following his sudden and tragic death Kumar Mangalam Birla, then just 28, replaced him as chairman. Tutored perhaps by the tragic death of his father when he was just 51, Kumar Birla clearly wants his own children to be put through the paces in preparation of future roles.

Traditionally, women in the group haven’t got directly involved with the family business. But that was in the past. Ananya has already proved her metier as an entrepreneur and, as the eldest, may well be put in charge of a business once she has had sufficient exposure.

What the group needs now from the two inheritors is the energy and dynamism of youth, along with a more native understanding of the changing marketplace. They are expected to bring insights into new-age businesses and consumer behavior into the group. As of now the Birla conglomerate relies heavily on textiles, cement and aluminum, which in turn has kept its market cap much lower than that of its peers.

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 29 December 2022, Mumbai

The partnership with Dukaan has helped Offduty improve conversion rates and increase profitability.

As a result of the partnership Offduty’s conversion rate has increased by 76 percent due to Dukaan’s technology and intuitive design, which allows for a seamless and efficient online shopping experience on mobile devices.In addition to increasing conversion rates and improving average order value, Dukaan has also helped Offduty bring down the RTO rates.

Dukaan is an e-commerce enabler and an all-in-one e-commerce platform that allows merchants to set up and manage an online store, sell products, and accept payments. Dukaan, started in 2020, allows retailers and merchants to create their own online stores and sell things online.

Offduty founded in 2019 is a direct-to-consumer women’s fashion brand. The brand fills the gap in premium denim fashion with a vision for women to have a range of exclusive denim fashion apparel to wear when they are off work. The range of jeans includes trouser pants, skinny jeans, mom and dad Jeans, wide leg jeans, ripped jeans and bootcut jeans. The vintage and classy denims are available in different colours. Fits include boyfriend cargo wide leg denims, bootcut flare high waist jeans, ankle slim fit jeans and more.

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31 January 2023, Mumbai

The Indian apparel/garment industry is hoping the budget offers some relief.

The industry is seeing rough times due to costlier raw materials and global economic challenges. Costlier cotton is the key pain point for the Indian garment industry. On the one hand, the cost of production of garments has increased.

Also, cheaper garments are being imported into India from China, Bangladesh, and other countries. Since higher cotton prices are the main cause of concern for the entire textile industry, removing the import duty is expected to ease cotton prices.

Higher cotton prices increase garment production costs, so exporters are not in a position to offer competitive prices. Cotton imports under Advance Licence offer duty-free raw materials for exporters but they are not entitled to incentives under RoDTEP.

The industry wants GST rates for ready-to-wear items to be reduced from the current 12.5 per cent to 5 per cent since high GST rates discourage consumers from buying. Also, taxation on Employees Stock Options (ESOP) should be based on actual gains, not hypothetical benefits.

Since India’s garment export industry, more particularly micro, small, and medium units, have been affected badly due to the international market situation caused by the Russian-Ukraine war, a moratorium of a minimum of six months for the existing loan payments has been suggested. Special funding has been called for to develop labor-supportive infrastructure in clusters where labor-intensive industries like clothing/apparel/garments are concentrated.

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 19 January 2023, Mumbai

Brands and malls differ over rentals, while malls want an increase in rentals every year, retailers want to retain the current system of rental hikes every three years. Malls typically sign nine year agreements with the retailers with a rental hike of 15 per cent every three years. But by increasing the rent five per cent each year, retailers will have to shell out about 17 per cent in lease cost in three years.

Large retailers are opposing the move given the number of stores they operate. Brands, since they invest a lot in fit-outs, feel an annual rental hike will make the business unviable. This means every month brands will have to keep the rental hike in mind.

Some malls have started something like staggered rentals so that they can hike the rentals every year. However, in the first year, they don’t put much pressure when the brand is trying to settle in. But once they start doing well, the malls push for a rental hike.

Mall developers aim at pushing for a 20 per cent rental hike every three years given the inflation and cost of raw materials. They say the cost of everything has gone up and fresh efforts have to be always put in to sustain. Since retailers are doing good, they feel, they should not be hesitant in absorbing the hikes.

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 26 December 2022, Mumbai

Indian Designer’s Haat will hold business-to-customer fairs in Raipur, Bilaspur, and Vizag in 2023. These will be from January 27 to 29 at Raipur, from January 31 to February 1 at Bilaspur and from February 16 to 17 at Vizag.

The Raipur fair will feature product categories including ethnic and occasion wear, jewellery, accessories, handbags, footwear, gift items, and more, made by independent brands and designers from both the local area and across the country. The Bilaspur fashion fair will feature a similar product selection to its Raipur edition with a number of more local brands in the mix.With a mix of occasion and traditional wear and fusion style everyday wear, the Vizag event will give brands a platform from which to reach new customers, build brand cognisance, and launch their latest designs to a sizeable crowd.

Indian Designer’s Haat is a multi-brand fashion and handicrafts fair that promotes independent designers from across the country and celebrates traditional crafts.

The fairs are attended by buyers, wholesalers, dealers, manufacturers, corporate decision makers, marketing professionals and the media. The multi-brand events mix festive collection launches with product demonstrations and entertainment. The highest spending shoppers are rewarded with silver coins and a number of other promotions also feature.

The events are organised by Fayre Media which is based in Kolkata and is a specialist in Indian fashion fairs.

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13 January 2023, Mumbai

Adaah will be held in Gurgaon, February 11 to 13, 2023. The fashion and lifestyle exhibition and trade show will showcase around 150 Indian brands and is designed to celebrate Indian-made products and businesses.

Designed as an interactive platform for retail brands and fashion and lifestyle businesses, Adaah’s upcoming edition will give businesses a platform from which to launch their latest collections for the upcoming season and network with retailers to expand their distribution reach.

This will be the event’s fourteenth edition and it will have a special focus on handicraft goods to empower craftspeople and boost brands which are contributing to the development of traditional crafts in contemporary business.

Fashion product categories at Addah will include ethnic wear, fusion wear, traditional wear, occasion wear, jewellery, handbags, leather goods, and accessories, among others. The event will also feature home décor, gift items, cosmetics, books, electronics, home appliances, and toys and games, among other fast moving consumer goods products.

The event aims at attracting both a business-to-business and a business-to-customer audience. Adaah showcased clothing and accessories brands from across India in New Delhi from July 15 to 16, 2022, for a Rakhi and Teej themed event.The exhibition also featured a wide selection of bridal wear for the late summer and autumn wedding season.

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 17 December 2022, Mumbai

Some 600 handloom clusters in India have been given financial assistance. This includes upgraded looms and accessories, lighting units, worksheds, design and product development, marketing support etc.

From international runways to museums to celebrity weddings, it is handloom all the way. Handloom is 70 per cent of finished garments in the apparel industry. While handloom purchase has gone up more than 100 per cent in the last decade it is developing itself in terms of product innovation. Handloom has taken over bling and people prefer handloom outfits even for their own weddings.

Several Indian states promote their traditional and indigenous textiles on national and international platforms. West Bengal, Manipur, Assam, Telengana and Madhya Pradesh are concentrating on developing state-owned brands. These initiatives to rebrand state handloom with design intervention from fashion designers and monetary support from the government is reviving fabrics like Pochompally, Baluchari, Narayanpet, Kutch Kala Cotton and Muga.

Fashion designer Gaurang Shah’s entire collection is handloom. His paithani silk lehengas are a classic example of pure handloom bridal outfits. Designer Sanjay Garg has dressed celebrities like Sonam Kapoor and Soha Ali Khan. His handloom pieces have grabbed the attention of fashionistas across the world. For Garg handloom is sustainable fashion.

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